Brendan O'Connor was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2001 as the Member for Burke.

At the 2004 federal election, Brendan was first elected to the newly created electoral division of Gorton . He was re-elected at the 2007 election.

Brendan has served as Deputy Chair of the Public Works Committee and the Employment and Workplace Participation Committee. From January 2006 he chaired Labor's Industrial Relations Taskforce enquiring into the Howard Government's controversial Work Choices legislation. 

On 10 December 2006, Brendan was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations. 

Following the election of the Rudd Labor Government, Brendan was appointed as Minister for Employment Participation, a position he currently holds.

Prior to entering Parliament, Brendan was a Union official from 1986 to 2001, most recently Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union from 1993 to 2001. 

Brendan holds a BA and a LLB from Monash University, and a Diploma, Harvard Trade Union Program, Harvard University.